Cold Weather - A grim reminder

[beachlover]

Took the dog out to the communal back garden yesterday morning with the intention of getting kit sorted for a trip out.
We found our pensioner (66) neighbour mumbling incoherently, just about able to move his upper limbs and clearly hypothermic outside his back door where he had fallen sometime during the night or early hours. Between calling the paramedics and them arriving, he arrested and despite CPR, effectively died before their arrival and was subsequently pronounced dead.
Temperature down here was just about freezing overninght and we'll never know what on earth he was going out for, but a timely reminder with the cold snap coming to not only check on the vulnerable, but to pre-empt their need to venture out.

 

[ilovemybed]

That really is tragic. I'm very sorry to hear that.

66 isn't really what I'd have considered old enough to be "at risk" either - it is a reminder that we're all vulnerable if we're stuck outside overnight in the cold. Even going to the pub without your keys is enough to end up in a position like that.

My heart goes out to his family.


Neil

 

[Graham_S]

last winter, a young man was found dead in the snow in dundee after a night out at the pub.
too much to drink, fell asleep in the street, dead by morning. anyone can be caught out by cold.

 

[NickBristol]

I'm sure his family will appreciate you being there and doing all that you did. Sure that somewhere in the depths of hypothermia he's have appreciated someone coming to his aid.

A very sombre reminder. Cold weather might be a rewarding challenge to the prepared but hell on earth to the unwary.

 

[pumbaa]

A couple of weeks back three local lads (early teens) were swept into the sea by a freak wave at lulworth cove . One of them was lucky enough to be swept back to shore where he raised the alarm . The other two were not so lucky and were found a few days later . So its not just the elderly that need loking out for . Go carefull by the shore aswell .
Pumbaa

 

[beachlover]

last winter, a young man was found dead in the snow in dundee after a night out at the pub.
too much to drink, fell asleep in the street, dead by morning. anyone can be caught out by cold.

Yep and he liked a drink too. Although he had been appropriately dressed (overcoat, hat etc) He had also begun to undress as is often seen in hypothermia. Survived nearly 10 hours tho'

 

[Keith_Beef]

A sad story, but one we can learn from.

At this time of year (end of Autumn, beginning of Winter), it's easy to get caught out.

You set off somewhere in the early afternoon; the sun is shining and you feel warm and the temptation is to dress lightly.

You stay out a little longer than you expected, but you think "so long as I keep moving, there's no problem". This is true; down to around -5°C I don't have any trouble keeping warm so long as I keep active.

But then puddles freeze over, frost forms, and you slip on the ice. You bang your head and lose consciousness. That does it, you can't shout for help, and unless somebody finds you in time, you're in big trouble.

I think that perhaps it would be wiser to wrap up really warm, and avoid overheating by moving slowly, rather than dress lightly and keep warm through exertion.

I've read before, here on BCUK, "hope for the best, but prepare for the worst".

I'm sure Abbe, Arctic Hobo, Carcajou Garou and others who spend a lot of time in cold climates would have more (and beter) advice.

I tried to teach my son this lesson a couple of days ago.

He refused to put on his warm coat to go to school; he just put on a body warmer over a sweatshirt. Well, it was nice and sunny, about 14°C and no wind at 8h30.

I picked him up from school at 15h10 and we went down into town to pick up a few things from the shops and to collect his little sister from playschool.

Walking back, it was starting to get dark; it was getting on towards 17h00 and the temperature had dropped to around 8°C or 10°C. Of course, he felt cold. Nothing serious, just cold hands and arms; his body was kept nice and snug.

But he seems to have learnt his lesson; this morning I had no trouble getting him to wrap up well, even though the sun was strong and the sky blue.

And telling a child of five that the temperature is -3°C outside doesn't seem to be an strong enough argument. Feeling Jack Frost biting your fingers works better than looking at numbers.

With a bit of luck, we'll have fine weather and maybe even a bit of snow for Thanksgiving )

Keith.

 

[The Joker]

Took the dog out to the communal back garden yesterday morning with the intention of getting kit sorted for a trip out.
We found our pensioner (66) neighbour mumbling incoherently, just about able to move his upper limbs and clearly hypothermic outside his back door where he had fallen sometime during the night or early hours. Between calling the paramedics and them arriving, he arrested and despite CPR, effectively died before their arrival and was subsequently pronounced dead.
Temperature down here was just about freezing overninght and we'll never know what on earth he was going out for, but a timely reminder with the cold snap coming to not only check on the vulnerable, but to pre-empt their need to venture out.

That is really sad , but well done for trying.

 

[bilko]

MY God, That is terrible
Reminds me of a similar thing that happened to my mother although she survived.
We used to live in a semi rural area called Pratts bottom in kent ( famous as a haunt for Dick Turpin ). Anyway we had a house at the top of a private road and you had to go down a slope to get to the house so it was effectively concealed from the road. Mum came home late one night as it had been snowing. I think it was the particular bad winter of 87. She put the car in the garage and tried to get to the house along trecherously icy ground of around 20 feet.
She slipped and broke her leg. She had to crawl the 20 foot to the house and was unable to lift herself to ring the door bell for us to help. Myself and my brother were in bed and my grandad lived in an extention at the back of the house.
Mum lay in the freezing ice with a broken leg screaming for help for several hours before grandad finally awoke ( luckily ) and called an ambulance.